Father Benedict's Biography

Benedict Joseph Groeschel, C.F.R. (July 23, 1933 – October 3, 2014)

Groeschel died on October 3, 2014.[27][3] He had an ongoing medical condition[3] that was grave enough that preparations to memorialize his life, including a Facebook tribute, were begun on September 9, 2014, by members of his religious order.[28] On September 30, 2014, the Cardinal Newman Society announced on their Facebook page that they had received word that Groeschel "fell and re-injured the same arm that was hurt in his accident ten years ago" and asked for people to request prayers of intercession for his health from "Venerable Solanus Casey, a former roommate of Fr. Groeschel who is up for beatification".[29] Doctors informed him that they felt it was inadvisable to attempt to repair the damaged arm as he was already in a weakened condition from the ongoing illness and was unlikely to survive surgery.[30][3] He returned home but continued to have great pain.[30] He died due to complications from his ongoing illness; members of his order pointed out that his death was on the vigil of the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi (their founder) according to the Catholic liturgical calender.[31][3]

On the memorial page set up by members of his order, Groeschel's quote concerning his attitude about his death was given, "Saint Vincent de Paulsaid: 'If you love the poor, your life will be filled with sunlight, and you will not be frightened at the hour of death.' I wish to witness that this is true."[28][3]

Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR Ed.D. founded Trinity Retreat House which is a center for prayer, retreat and renewal for the clergy. Fr. Benedict obtained his doctorate in psychology from Columbia University. Along with eight other friars, Fr. Benedict helped form the Community of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal which is dedicated to preaching renewal and personal reform, as well as providing care for the poor and homeless. Over the years, Fr. Benedict has been a popular speaker, retreat director, and author. He was also the original host of EWTN's Sunday Night Live (later entitled Sunday Night Prime .)